Charlie's Been What?
by MizDenton
Summary: Don gets a late night phone call that reveals a side of Charlie that he never suspected. Many thanks to Jels for help with the blurb
1. What?

Charlie's Been What?

"What do you mean he's been arrested?" Don Eppes, Senior Field Agent for the F.B.I. looked at the phone in his hand as if he expected it to come to life at any moment. It was late, he was the only one left in the office and he was looking forward to getting home and watching something, anything, on tv.

Well, he had been looking forward to leaving...

"Well, uh, it's...it's kind of a long story." Dr. Larry Fleinhardt said from the other end of the phone.

"Larry...It's ten o'clock at night and I have yet to eat today. Before I hang up and let him sit in jail for a while, tell me what happened." Don said.

"Oh, my, it's ten o'clock there? That means it's..."

"One a.m. in Boston, where you are." Don told him for Larry was 'geographically challenged as Charlie liked to say.

"Oh, well, we're not in Boston right now."

"What? Why not?" Don asked. He groaned and slumped down in his chair. At the rate the conversation was moving, it would be morning before he found out what happened to Charlie.

"Well..."

"Larry, I need you tell me where you and Charlie are right now." Don cut Larry off, his patience was running out and he really didn't want to snap at Larry. He was a good person and a family friend, not to mention being Charlie's mentor and a brilliant physicist on top of it all. The fact that he was an airhead when it came to anything other than physics was part of who he was. 

"Nantucket Island. It's off the coast of Massachusetts." Larry said, after a pause. "Right now I'm at The Harbor House. It's a nice hotel."

Don frowned, stood up, then sat back down. "Why are you there? Aren't you supposed to be at a conference in Boston?"

"We are. And what a great conference it is."

"So, how did you get to Nantucket?" Don was totally confused now.

There was silence for a moment and then the sound of disembodied voices could be heard.

"Larry?" Don called through the phone.

"Agent Eppes?" A woman's voice replaced Larry's .

"Yes, who's this?" Don's phone manners had gone right out the window.

"My name is Jennifer Wells. I'm one of the conference coordinators. I'm in charge of the entertainment."

She sounded young, younger than Charlie. Don swallowed, a nervous feeling starting in the pit of his stomach. What in God's name had Charlie done?

"Ms. Wells, where is my brother? What is going on?" Don demanded.

"Well...it's kind of a long story." she said.

"So I've been told."

"Part of the conference package are side trips around the New England area."

"And that's what my brother and Dr. Fleinhardt were doing? They were on a side trip to Nantucket?"

"Yes. They were part of group that was supposed to come over from Boston, do a little sight-seeing, spend the night and go back to Boston the next day."

"And?"

"One moment, Agent Eppes...Dr. Fleinhardt? Where are you going? Oh. You'll be in your room? Okay."

"Ms. Wells?" Don asked, determined to keep her attention on him.

"Ask at the front desk, I'm sure they'll be able to get you another one.

"I'm sorry, Agent Eppes but Dr. Fleinhardt couldn't find his room key."

"Ms. Wells just tell me what happened to my brother." Don stood and started to pace around his office.

"We went to dinner at The Rose and Crown. It's a really good restaurant. It's got a small bar on the side too."

Don groaned. The nervous feeling started to travel from his stomach upward. He had a horrible feeling he knew how the story was going to end.

"Unfortunately, and this was all my fault, the place is more bar than restaurant. There was an altercation in the bar that spilled out into the restaurant. The police were called and they just rounded up a whole group of people including your brother and couple of others from the group."

_Oh, this just gets better and better._ Don thought. "My brother was arrested for being in a bar fight?"

"Well, he wasn't _in_ the fight. He was too close to the fight and got swept up in it." Ms. Wells sounded entirely too upbeat for the serious nature of the conversation and it was getting on Don's nerves.

"Where exactly is my brother now?"

"He's still at the police station. It's taking a bit of time to sort out who was involved and who wasn't."

"When do you expect him to be released?" Don asked. He rubbed a hand across his face in utter disbelief. He was not having this conversation. This was all some weird dream. He was going to wake up at any moment and wonder what he had had to eat before going to sleep.

"He'll be released when he can prove he is who he says he is."

"And when will that happen?"

"In the next couple of hours. All he has to do is show his driver's license and he'll be free to go."

Don groaned.

"Is that a problem?" Ms. Wells did not sound nearly as chipper as a few minutes before.

"My brother doesn't drive. All he has is a learner's permit but I'm assuming he has a state i.d. card. Whether he has it with him, is another matter."

It was a good thing that Alan, their father, wasn't there to hear the whole sordid tale first hand. He would hear about it soon enough.

There was no response from Ms. Wells but Don could hear voices in the background.

"Ms. Wells!" He called into the phone.

"Uh...Agent Eppes, the problems been solved." Ms. Wells came back on the phone.

"You mean Charlie's been released?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, he has." she replied.

For the third time, Don could voices in the background but couldn't make any specific voices. His frustration mounting, he was quietly planning whose head he was going to tear off first.

_So help me God, if I have to get on a plane and go to Boston, I'm going to kick Charlie's ass all the way back here!_ Don thought. "MS. WELLS!" He yelled into the phone using his best _F.B.I. don't screw with me_ voice.

"Hi, Don. I'm out. I'll explain when I get home, see you in a couple of days, bye." Charlie talked just long enough to give his brother the basics before hanging up.

Don stared at the phone receiver in utter shock and surprise.

"When I get my hands on him, he's not going to need a plane ticket back to California." he muttered, dropping the receiver back into its cradle.


	2. The Trip Home

"All right Charles, I shall see you tomorrow." Dr. Larry Fleinhardt said, his checked luggage at his feet. 

Charlie, watching for his luggage on the baggage carousel, didn't pay any attention to what Larry said. It was only when Larry started to walk away that Charlie looked over at him.

"Don's gonna be here shortly, he'll give both of us a ride." he said.

Larry smiled a very small smile and said "I have no desire to watch any more fireworks. I saw plenty in Boston."  
Charlie frowned and said "It's not my fault that Don's mad, didn't I tell you not to call?"

"Charles, there are multiple occasions in which I would have followed your directive. Being arrested is not one of them. I'll see you tomorrow." Larry replied. He hitched his carry-on over his shoulder, grabbed the handle of his rolling suitcase and walked away. He was soon swallowed up by the throngs of people inside LAX.

Charlie scowled, grabbed his bags off the carousel and went outside.

"It's not my fault." He muttered, slumping down onto a bench bolted to the wall. As each car passed, he repeated himself. When his brother finally did appear, nosing the Suburban through the hordes of traffic around the passenger pick-up area, Charlie did not meet his brother's eyes, he simply put his luggage into the back seat, climbed into the front seat and shut the door.

"Seatbelt." Don said, in way of greeting.

Charlie put his seatbelt on.

Don pulled out into the traffic and said not a word. He would keep a grip on his temper while he was driving. He would. It would do him no good to get into a wreck while driving.

"I specifically told Larry not to call you." Charlie said, breaking the silence but he still avoided looking at Don. "I specifically told him not to call anyone because I knew everything would be sorted out by the time he found someone."

Don swung the Suburban out the airport's exit before shooting Charlie an ugly look. Keep your eyes on the damn road. he told himself

"I'm so glad you knew that 'cause no one else did. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get information from Larry, late at night?" he said. He brought the Suburban to a stop at a stoplight.

"Yeah, I've done it before, it's kinda hard." Charlie replied.

"Try impossible. Fortunately, your tour guide was there to translate." Don said.

The light turned green and Don moved the Suburban over to the on-ramp for the 405 North.

"This is exactly why I didn't want you to be called. I knew you'd get upset." Charlie replied. He crossed his arms and stared out the window.

There was a backup to the on-ramp, forcing Don to stop. He sat there, staring out the windshield before looking over at his brother.

He sighed and said "Look, I know you're an adult and you've got your own life, even if I do horn in on it. You've got your life and I've got mine. But getting a phone call at 10 o'clock at night saying you've been arrested is not something I needed at the end of the day."

The traffic inched forward.

"It wasn't exactly a good time for me either. And for the record, I was NOT arrested. I was merely held until I could prove I was who I said I was."

Those words sent a chill through Don but he didn't let it show. He focused on moving the Suburban up the on-ramp. He did not speak again until they were on the Interstate, heading toward Pasadena.

"And what, may I ask, were you doing in a bar at one o'clock in the morning? Maybe if you hadn't been, you wouldn't have gotten mixed up in whatever the hell happened."

Charlie looked out the window again. The San Fernando Valley spread before them with the San Gabriel Mountains looming in the distance.

"The Rose and Crown is more than a bar. It's a restaurant and we went there for dinner. My problem was twofold. My timing sucked and I happen to be in the same age range as the others who were picked up."

The traffic slowed just before the road began to wind its way through the mountains surrounding L.A. (U.S. 135 East and 205) Don focused his attention again on getting past the slow spots. It was several minutes before he spoke again.

"Okay but one a.m.?"

"This may come as a shock to you Don, but occasionally I stay out later than I should and, on those occasions, I do drink too. Anything else you want to ask?"  
"No." Don bit the word off. "Just be happy that Dad was out of town and Larry had to call me. You'd never hear the end of it otherwise."

The exit sign for Pasadena appeared. Charlie waited until they were off the freeway before asking "Does that mean that I'll hear the end of it from you?"  
"No." Don stopped the Suburban at a stoplight and glanced at his brother. "This is too good to let go." He grinned and Charlie knew that the storm had passed and that Don wasn't going to kill him after all.

A comfortable silence fell for most of the rest of the way home. They were just a couple of blocks from the house when Don asked "Am I the reason Larry didn't catch a ride with you?"

Charlie nodded. "Yep. He gets me in trouble then disappears. Wuss."

Don chuckled.

"I'm so glad you find this funny." Charlie said.

"Considering the stress you two have put me through for the last couple of days, I deserve it." He pulled the Suburban into the house's driveway. He cut the engine and shot another glance at his baby brother. He opened his mouth to say something but Alan, their father, appeared on the front porch, looking like a thundercloud.

Charlie's eyes popped open. He looked at Don and said "Did you have to tell Dad?"

Don swallowed his smile. He spread his hands wide and said "I didn't say a word. I haven't had a chance."

Charlie swallowed. "I'm going to kill Larry." he said, very quietly.

"Not to leave you to Dad's tender mercies but I do have to get back to the office." Don said.

"Take me with you." Charlie replied.

"You've got to face him sooner or later. You both live here." Don said.

Charlie sighed, squared his shoulders and opened the door. He looked so miserable that Don had to swallow a laugh and a smile.

"Hi, Dad. How's the trip?" Charlie said, getting out of the Suburban.

"Charles Edward Eppes! You get up here and explain yourself! I come back and I get a message like that on the answering machine!" Alan said.

"Charlie's in trouble, Charlie's in trouble, Charlie's trouble." Don sang under his breath.

"Oh, stop." Charlie said, shooting his brother an ugly look. He looked back at their father. "I'll explain everything, Dad. It's not as bad as it sounded." He opened the back passenger door and took out his luggage.

"Shall I come by later on this evening? I can bring the team." Don asked.

Charlie shut the back door, then shut the front door but not before leaning in and saying "That might be a good idea, there might be a crime scene to process." He shouldered his carry-on bag, pulling his larger suitcase behind him, walked around the Suburban, heading for the front steps.

Don cracked the window just enough to hear Charlie say "Dad, it's not as bad as it sounded."

"What do you mean it's not that bad! You were arrested!" Alan said.

"So where you." Charlie shot back.

"That was different."

"So was this!"

Don rolled up the window so neither would hear his laughter. He started the SUV and drove away. He would definitely be making a stop at the house later on. If for no other reason, than to see where Charlie would be sleeping that night.


End file.
